MMPR: The True Master Returns
by ChiBearsFan10125
Summary: This is the sequel to my previous story, MMPR: The Day of The Green Ranger. After Failing to conquer the Earth, a new villain takes over for Rita: Lord Zedd. Tommy soon finds out a devastating truth about his powers and must embark on a quest to reunite the full team to take on this new threat.
1. Chapter 1

**MMPR: The True Master Returns**

By: Chibearsfan10125

Author's Note: This is a SEQUEL to MMPR: Day of The Green Ranger. While some of this story and many of the characters will be familiar to any fans of MMPR, some aspects of this, specifically D.E.T.A. and much of Tommy's story, will not be unless you have read that story. I hope you enjoy.

 **Chapter 1: Losing Control**

"Winter Break!" Zack shouts as he runs through the door of Ernie's juice bar and sits down at a table with his friends. "Man, I thought this semester would never end."

"Well, between dates, finals, and that whole saving the world on a weekly basis thing, I can see why." Trini says with a sarcastic tone. The 6 teenagers laugh.

"It's not quite a weekly basis anymore." Billy says. "Rita's attacks have gotten few and far between. It's almost like she's given up."

"Well, maybe she realized that with me on your side now, she doesn't stand a chance." Tommy says, very cockily.

Meanwhile, Kim stands up and wave her hand over to Ernie standing behind the counter. "Hey Ernie, Zack's here. Can we get another smoothie?" She asks. The man behind the counter nods his heads and starts making one. "You have got to try this new smoothie Ernie's got. It's fantastic." Zack looks at the table and notices that all his friends have nearly empty glasses sitting on the table.

"Looks like it." He says. Ernie walks over the table with a smoothie in his hand. "Here you are, Zack." He says setting the smoothie down on the table.

"Thanks, Ernie." Zack says. He takes a sip of the drink. "Man, that is good. What flavor is it?"

"It's a new house blend. Banana, Coconut, and a little splash of my secret ingredient."

"Which is?"

"Yeah, right. I love you guys, you're some of my best customers, but only employees learn my secrets when it comes to this blend."

The teenagers all start to ask Ernie to tell them, but Jason stops them. "Come on guys, let's respect his privacy here. We wouldn't him to ask about all our secrets, now would we?" The kids all back off on that note.

"Anyway, you enjoy that. You guys got any big plans now that the semester is over."

"I plan on just relaxing as much as possible. Finals week kicked my butt." Zack says.

"Really?" Billy asks. "I didn't find the tests that difficult this semester." The others looks at him and shake their heads. They start laughing. "What?" He questions, but the others just keep laughing.

"Nothing, Billy." Trini says. "Don't worry about it." Ernie laughs as well, but the notices that the line up at the counter has gotten too long for his other employees. "Oh I've got to go." He says, rushing away.

"Seriously, though, why don't we have any plans for this break?" Tommy says. "We've got over 2 weeks until Christmas, and I really feel like going somewhere and getting away from everything for a little bit."

"That would sound like a great idea if it weren't for a certain woman who lives on the moon and is hellbent on destroying the world." Jason says.

"First of all, Rita hasn't attacked in weeks. For all we know she may have left." Tommy says.

"No, Zordon would've told us." Trini says. "He knew as soon as she was released, I'm sure he'd know if she was gone."

"OK, well, even if she hasn't, did you all forget that we can teleport? We can be anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds. If Rita attacks, we just teleport back."

The others stop and consider Tommy's point for a moment. "Before we make any plans, let's check with Zordon and Alpha." Zack says. Suddenly the rangers communicators go off. "Speak of the devil…" Zack says. The teens looks around the youth center, and notice an empty hallway across the way. Jason points and the others follow. Zack throws a 10 dollar bill on the table as the teens rush across to the other side of the building.

Once the rangers reach the empty part of the youth center, Jason brings his communicator up towards his mouth. "Go ahead, Zordon."

A deep, booming voice comes through the device on the boy's wrist. "Rangers, the brief hiatus from Rita's attacks appears to over. Rita has sent a monster, a bird like creature that calls itself the Peckster, to the outskirts of Angel Grove."

"Well, so much for Rita not having attacked in a while." Trini says.

"We should be careful about this one, guys." Tommy says. "I was hoping she would just stay gone, but if I know Rita, I would bet she's been planning this attack for a while."

"Alright, let's do this." Jason says. "It's Morphin' Time!" Shouting out the name of their respective creatures, the teens shout quickly transform into the Power Rangers and teleport to the outskirts of Angel Grove. They see the large bird creature and a small army of Putty Patrollers.

"Man, I forgot how ugly Rita's monsters can be." Zack says.

"You don't look so hot yourself!" The monster replies. "Here, maybe I can warm you up a bit!" Suddenly, the monster opens it's mouth and a fiery blast heads for the rangers. They dive out of the way.

"So this one breaths fire." Tommy says. "Good to know."

"Putties, don't just stand there. Attack!" The Peckster shouts. The putties charge at the rangers. Billy and Kim quickly pull out their weapons. Billy, using his Power Lance, manages to take out several putties in one sweep. Kim repeatedly fires arrows from her Power Bow at the creatures. Meanwhile, Zack and Trini begin to engage the putties in hand to hand combat, easily defeating the clay beings.

Jason and Tommy nod at each other and rush towards the Peckster. Jason pulls out his Power Sword and swing it at the creatures beak. Tommy does likewise with Dragon Dagger. The two weapons hit the beak, but bounce off without doing any damage. "Is that the best you've got?" The monster asks, mockingly. "I've been hit with feathers harder than that. In fact, now so will you!" The monster flaps it's wings at the Rangers and sharp feathers fly out. Jason manages to avoid being hit, but one hits Tommy right in the chest. He is hurled through the air. He stops only when he runs into a tree, and falls to the ground with a loud thud. He immediately demorphs back into his human form.

"Tommy!" Jason shouts running to his friends side. He looks back at the monster who is laughing. "This is too easy. Based on what Rita told me about you Power Geeks, I thought you'd put up more of a fight." He is quickly silenced by several laser blasts. The other rangers run in, with Blade Blasters in hand, repeatedly firing at the bird-like creature. They rush over to Jason's side. Tommy has slowly made his way to his feet. "Are you OK?" Kim asks Tommy.

"I'm fine, but this bird brain won't be. Let's end this and shut this featherhead up once and for all." Tommy reaches for his morpher, but Jason stops him.

"We got this Tommy!" Jason shouts. "Let's bring 'em together!" The Rangers all pull out their Power Weapons. They quickly assemble the Power Blaster. "Fire!" Jason shouts as the newly formed blaster harnesses the energy of all five Power Weapons. The shot is a direct hit. "This wasn't how it was supposed to go!" The monster shouts, as he falls to the ground. There is a small explosion, and the monster is gone.

The Rangers wait for Rita's Staff to fly in and make the monster grow. They have gotten used to the routine and know what to expect, but this time, it doesn't come. They stare at the fire. Trini asks. "Does it usually take this long?"

"I know it's been a few weeks since the last fight, but I thought the monster growing usually happened pretty immediately." Jason says.

"Affirmative." Billy says. "Something is different this time."

"Whatever, guys, let's not worry about it." Zack says, demorphing. "Just saves us a little bit of time." The others quickly follow suit. "Let's get back to the juice bar."

The rangers all take off back toward town except Tommy. They get a about 50 feet away they realize Tommy isn't right behind them. "You coming, man?" Jason asks.

Tommy turns to them. "What? Oh yeah, right." He says. "Sorry I was just lost in my head, there." He starts to catch up with them, then stops again. "Actually, Billy can we talk for a second? The rest of you guys go ahead, I just have a quick question."

"Are you sure you're OK?" Kim asks. "You're acting kind of funny.

"Do we need to have Alpha examine you for a concussion?" Trini asks.

"Guys, I'm fine. Really. I just have a question for Billy."

"I'd be happy to help in anyway I can." Billy says.

"The rest of you guys go ahead, we'll catch up." The others begrudgingly agree and continue walking. Billy walks over to Tommy.

"What's going on?" Billy asks.

"So, promise me you'll keep this between us, OK?" Tommy says.

"OK?" Billy responds, not sure what is going on.

"So, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but the the last few fights, I haven't been making it all the way through them."

"How do you mean?" Billy asks.

"I've been demorphing with more and more frequency. I was hoping that after this hiatus that my powers would be back to full strength, but it happened again today. It could all be in my head, and maybe I just need to do a good job of avoiding the bigger hits, but I'd appreciate it if you would take a look at my morpher and see if there is anything wrong with it."

"I'd be happy to take a look at it for you. I'll check it out in tonight."

"And can we just keep this between the two of us for now. I don't want to worry the others unless something is really wrong."

"I understand, but what should I tell them when they ask what this was about?"

"I don't know, you're smart. You'll figure something out." Tommy says jokingly. He pulls out his morpher and hands it to Billy. "Thanks, Billy." The two of them take off jogging towards the other teens.

* * *

Rita watches from her palace as the Rangers destroy yet another of her monsters. "Again!" She shouts at no one in particular. "All that planning ruined in two minutes!"

"My queen, you need to calm down." Finster says.

"Aren't you going to make the Peckster grow? The Rangers are still vulnerable." Goldar says.

"They'll just call their zords and destroy like they have every other time." Rita says, defeated.

"We have plenty of other monsters that we can try and defeat the rangers with." Finster says, gesturing towards his workshop. "Perhaps a Pudgy Pig or a Nasty Knight would cheer you up?"

"That won't do! We need something more powerful."

Suddenly, a deep booming voice rings throughout the palace. "RITA REPULSA! YOU HAVE FAILED YET AGAIN!"

"Ugh oh." Rita says. A bright light flashes through the palace repeatedly and a dark figure appears. The creatures Red Skin is covered only by a few chrome pieces. His face is mostly covered by a chrome mask, with a red vizor where his eyes should be. At the top of the vizor extend a horn with the letter "Z" on the end. He holds a silver staff, also formed to into the shape of the letter Z. The creature slowly walks towards Rita. "Imagine my surprise when I heard you escaped your captivity several months ago and were unable to capture this one planet!" He shouted.

"Lord Zedd!" Rita says. "My emperor! I wasn't expecting you." She falls to her knees at his feet.

"Goldar contacted me." Zedd informs her, walking right past her. She turns and glares at the Golden monster.

"Traitor." She says under her breath.

"He informs me that you are being made to look like a fool by a bunch of children in multi-colored uniforms!"

"Well there's more to it than that. They were granted their powers by Zordon." She says.

"Oh, by Zordon, why didn't you say so." Zedd says, mocking her. "They are nothing more than mere infants! And not only did you fail to defeat the rangers, but in your infinite wisdom, you helped to create a new one!"

"Please, my lord, give me another chance. I won't fail again."

"You have just failed again!" Lord Zedd shouts. "Don't think I haven't been watching you. I gave you one last chance, and you blew it. Those rangers destroyed your 'unbeatable monsters' without hardly breaking a sweat. You are not fit to destroy a cockroach! I am taking over this operation, and then you'll see how a true master handles a minor inconvenience like the Power Rangers!" He looks at Goldar. "Throw this 'queen' of yours into the dungeon." Goldar bows.

"Yes, master." Goldar grabs Rita by the shoulder. She struggles to break free, but his grip is too strong. Goldar takes her down a long hallway.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Rita shouts. "I have taken great care of you over the years, Goldar, and you betray, just like that."

"Lord Zedd is the true master of this palace. He rightfully belongs here. You were nothing but a placeholder for him." Goldar says. They reach the end of the hallway. "Had you had more success in conquering this planet, my opinion of you might be different."

"You failed just as often as I have." Rita says.

"My failures are a result of your poor plans." Goldar says. "Now with Lord Zedd at the helm, we can't be defeated." Goldar opens the door to a prison like cell. "Consider yourself lucky, my 'empress'. If it were my choice, I would have locked you in a space dumpster again and sent you away."

"So much for loyalty." Rita says. Goldar throws Rita into the cell, and she falls on the far end. He slams the door shut and locks it. Then he heads back to the palace. He stands next to Finster and both bow and Lord Zedd's feet. "Shall I make a monster for your first attack, my Lord?" Finster asks.

"No!" Lord Zedd shouts angrily. "Your monsters have failed repeatedly to defeat the rangers. You're lucky I don't throw you in the cell with Rita!" Finster grovels and backs away. "I will attack the rangers soon, but first I must formulate a plan. In the meantime…" He pauses and turns to Finster "I want you to make a new batch of Putty Patrollers, but this time, you will make them to my specifications." He begins to laugh an evil laugh and Goldar joins.

"Oh my…" Finster says and he retires to his workshop to begin work on the new putties.

* * *

The next morning, Tommy runs down the stairs. Tommy's Uncle, Frank, is sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper. He checks his watch and sees that it reads 7:00 am. "You're up early." Frank says. "It's your first day of break, I half expected not see you until this afternoon."

"Well, you know what they say, the early bird gets the worm. I'm going for a jog through the park. Figured I'll get my workout in early and then have the rest of the day to do whatever I want."

"Good plan." Frank says, not looking up from the paper this time.

"See you later." Tommy says, running out the door. He heads down the block for Angel Grove Park.

Tommy runs for about 40 minutes before he stops for a breather at a water fountain in the park. He pulls out his smartphone from his pocket. "4 miles in 40 minutes. Man, not my best run. Better pick up the pace a little bit." He puts his phone back in and grabs a quick drink from the fountain and turns to take off running but stops immediately when he sees a large golden figure looming in front of him.

"Goldar!" Tommy shouts, and immediately reaches for his morpher. He quickly reaches for his morpher but realizes that he gave it to Billy to examine. Tommy's eyes dart from the Golden Monster to the putties behind him. They are different. At first Tommy can't pinpoint the exact differences, but one distinct difference is alarming to him. A large plate on the front with the letter Z in the middle.

"Hello, Green Ranger." Goldar shouts. "We meet again."

"What do you want, Monkey Brains?" Tommy shouts.

"You destroyed someone who was very important to me. You will pay for what you did to Scorpina. Conveniently, my Lord wanted to test out our new Putty Patrollers and you just happened to be alone on a run. I convinced him to let me bring them down and destroy you."

"Well, that's not going to happen." Tommy shouts. Goldar commands the putties to attack and they charge at Tommy. Tommy quickly realizes that not only are these putties different in the way they look, but they are also different in the way they fight. They seem much stronger, and even smarter to an extent. They don't attack as randomly. Tommy punches one right the face and sends it flying back, he quickly turns and sweeps his leg and knocks another one over. He realizes though that he has quickly been surrounded. He tries to call for help, but a putty has come from behind and grabbed his arm. Another putty grabs his other arm, and Goldar walks slowly towards him. He pulls out his sword.

"I'm a little disappointed this was so easy. I was expecting a better fight out of someone I helped train." He holds begins to swing his sword at Tommy. Then, seemingly from out of nowhere, another figure jumps in and kicks Goldar in the chest, knocking him back.

The figure lands on the ground and turns. Tommy is suddenly relieved. "Jason!"

"Tommy, duck!" Jason shouts. Tommy does his best to comply, and Jason does a high sweeping kick knocking the putties holding Tommy away. Tommy runs over to Jason side.

"Boy, am I glad to see you.

"I guess you and I had the same idea this morning." Jason says.

"Yeah, and early morning workout, but this wasn't exactly what I had in my mind."

"Well, let's morph and end this."

"I can't morph."

"What?"

"Billy, kinda, has my morpher."

"What? Why?"

"I'll explain everything later." Tommy says. "Now isn't the time. You morph and deal with Goldar. I'll hold off the putties." Jason pulls out his morpher. "Tyrannosaurus!" He shouts and transforms into the Red Ranger. He pulls out the his sword and charges at Goldar, who has gotten back to this feet.

"You shouldn't be here, Red Ranger. This is between me and the Green one over there." Goldar snarls.

"If you have a problem with one of my friends, then you have a problem with me." Jason responds. Goldar and Jason's swords clash against each other.

Meanwhile, Tommy has reengaged the putties, and is doing better this time. Knowing they are stronger this time, Tommy plans his moves carefully making sure each hit does as much damage as possible. "This would be so much easier if I hadn't just run 4 miles." Tommy says. Tommy notices that the putties keep getting back up, no matter how had he hits them. He pulls away from the putties and reaches for his communciator. "Zordon, Jason and I could use some help out here!" He shouts.

"Yes, Tommy, I'm aware. The others have been contacted and are one there." The deep voice responds. Suddenly, 3 beams of light teleport into the scene. Kim, Trini, and Zack all appear from the light. They rush to Tommy's side and begin engaging the putties. "Where's Billy?" Tommy asks.

"I don't know." Trini responds. "Was it my turn to watch him?"

Tommy shakes his head. They continue in their struggle against the creatures. Zack, Trini, and Kim also notice that the putties seem stronger this time. They pull out their morphers, and morph into rangers. They still struggle with the putties, though not as much now that they are morphed.

Goldar and Jason continue their clash, but he looks over and notices the other 3 rangers have joined Tommy. "My Master will not be pleased about this." He pushes Jason in the chest. He pulls his sword across his chest and disappears. The putties vanish along with him.

"Why would he retreat?" Zack asks. "They were winning." The rangers all demorph back to civilian mode.

"Did anyone else notice something different about those putties?" Trini asks.

"Yeah, they were, like, a lot stronger than usual." Kim says. "And what was up with that Z?"

"I don't know, but man were they tough." Zack says. "I couldn't keep up until a morphed. Speaking of, why didn't you morph Tommy?"

Jason walks in. "Because Billy has his morpher." Jason says, not allowing Tommy to answer. "Now that they're gone, I think it's about time you tell us what's going on."

"OK, so for the last month or so, whenever there's been an attack…" Tommy begins but is cut off by the sound of his communicator.

"We read you Zordon." Jason says.

"Actually, it's Billy. I think you guys should all come into the Command Center. I've got some news that might effect the whole team." The rangers all nod and teleport away. They land in the command center. "What's going on?" Jason asks after they all land.

"So, Tommy asked me to examine his morpher after the last battle." Billy says. "He was worried because he was demorphing too frequently and thought there might be something wrong with his powers. I thought I could throughly examine the Powers in my garage, but I didn't have the necessary equipment, so late last night I came here and Alpha and I did a through examination of the Green Ranger powers. It turns out that Tommy's suspicions were well based. Alpha." Billy gestures to the robot. Alpha presses a few buttons on the computer.

"This is a readout of your all of your ranger powers." Alpha says, gesturing towards the viewing globe. Several graphs appear on the screen with high energy readings. "And this is a readout of the energy Tommy's coin is generating." The graph changes and the numbers on the screen are much lower.

"It would appear…" Billy says. "That D.E.T.A. significantly underestimated the energy that would be needed in order to power a ranger over the long term. We believe these problems have been masked up until now because Rita may have amplified the powers while she had you under her spell."

"The Sword of Darkness." Tommy says. "Finster said that without it, I wouldn't be as strong. I thought it was just the only thing holding me under her spell, but it may have been boosting my energy levels as well."

"That is entirely possible." Zordon says. "The Sword of Darkness was a very powerful weapon."

"So what are you saying?" Kim says. "That Tommy won't be as strong as the rest of us?"

"I'm saying that Tommy's Powers are likely to fail. Unless we find a way to strength his powers, we can say goodbye to our Green Ranger after about 5 more morphs."

END CHAPTER 1


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: I haven't had much time for writing lately, so this took longer than expected to put out, but I do plan on continuing this story. Please read and review. I hope you enjoy.

 **Chapter 2: Drain the Dragon**

The 5 teenagers stare at their friend Billy. They are silent for a few moments, and then finally Tommy speaks. "5 morphs?" Tommy asks. "Are you serious right now?"

"I'm afraid so, Tommy." Billy says.

"Man, when I asked you to look into my powers, I figured even if there was something wrong, they'd just be weaker, not gone all together."

"I've scheduled us a meeting with D.E.T.A. Commander Jones was nice enough to get us in with the scientists over there as soon as possible." Billy explains.

"That's good, Billy." Jason says. "If anyone will know how to fix Tommy's powers, it will be them."

"Man, things just go from bad to worse for us. First those new putties show up, now we might down a ranger." Zack says. Zordon perks up at Zack's mention of new putties.

"New Putties?" Zordon asks. "I was not aware of any new threat. What new putties are you referring to?"

"I don't know how to explain it, but they were stronger than usual." Zack says.

Kim chimes in as well. "Yeah, and they looked a little different, too."

"They were a different shade of grey, and had a big Z on their chest ." Trini adds.

"Z-Putties?" Zordon says, alarmed. "Alpha, is it possible that your examination of Tommy's powers could have interfered with our scanners."

"It's possible, Zordon." Alpha responds. "The examination did require a lot of power."

"What's going on, Zordon?" Jason asks. "What are Z-Putties?"

"I have been worried this day would come from the moment Rita escaped. Rita is part of a much larger group of evil beings. She is far from the worst threat this planet could face, and one of the greater threats may be here now. The Z-Putties are the foot soldiers of an evil warlord known as Lord Zedd. If he has come to Earth, then he has found Rita to have failed her mission to take over this planet."

"Lord Zedd?" Trini asks. "How come you never mentioned this before."

"I was hoping the day of his arrival would never come." Zordon says.

Alpha, who has been working on the Command Center's computers, chimed back in. "You were right Zordon. Our scanners were being interrupted by the work Billy and I were doing. They are back online now."

The alarm begins to sound and Zordon's face becomes more troubled. "It is as I have feared. Lord Zedd is here. Beware, Power Rangers, this threat is nothing like Rita. Rita's monsters were strong and powerful, but they will not seem like it compared to the power that is Lord Zedd."

"So, let me get this straight. There is someone out there worse than Rita?" Kim says.

"I'm afraid so Rangers." Zordon responds.

"Lord Zedd's Power is unmatched by anything we've seen thus far." Alpha says.

"Well, then we'll just have to work harder to defeat him." Tommy says. "We have to say."

"Tommy, while I appreciate your enthusiasm, hard work may not be enough. Lord Zedd is incredibly dangerous and with your powers failing, you are by far the most vulnerable of the rangers."

"Zordon, Rita was able to give Tommy extra power using the sword of Darkness. Don't we have anything, maybe a Sword of Light or a Sword of Power or something like that, that could give boost his powers?" Billy asks, hopefully.

"I'm afraid not." Zordon responds. "I have already given you all the weapons at our disposal. If we had any such weapon, I would have always granted it to you to help defeat Rita. What kind of mentor would I be if I withheld weapons and/or information that could aid you in your battle?"

"I guess you're right, I was just being optimistic." Billy says.

"What about not mentioning this larger group of evil beings until now? Wasn't that withholding information?" Trini asks.

"What benefit would that have given you in your fight against Rita? If anything, it would have hurt your spirit knowing that defeating Rita may not have been enough." Zordon says.

"I suppose that's true…" Trini says, clearly annoyed that this is the first she is hearing of this new threat.

"With Lord Zedd now in the fold, it is imperative for you rangers to always be at the ready." Zordon explains. "An Ancient Prophecy foretold of his coming to Earth. It was stated all six rangers would need to fully work together as one in order to defeat him."

"At this time, the best thing you can do is to rest. We need you to be fresh for the next time he chooses to attack." The rangers all nod in agreement. Billy looks up at Zordon.

"Tommy and I need to head to our meeting with D.E.T.A. about his powers, but the rest of you should head home. We'll be sure to let you know as soon as we know anything."

"Good Luck Rangers, and may the power protect you." Zordon says.

* * *

Tommy and Billy teleport and land outside of the D.E.T.A. facility. The building is being guarded by several heavily armed guards. There are extra video monitors everywhere. The two rangers walk up to the main gate. As they approach the guards all quickly turn and point their weapons at the two teens. "Stay where you are!" One of the guards shouts. "Make a move and we shoot."

Tommy and Billy freeze in place. "Whoa, hold on a minute!" Billy shouts.

"We're here for a meeting with Commander Jones." Tommy says. He leans in to Billy. "I thought you said they knew we were coming." he whispers

"They were supposed to." Billy says nervously. "I set everything up with Jones."

Suddenly the door to the facility opens. "Agents, stand down." A large man says walking through the door. The man is wearing a uniform with D.E.T.A.'s symbol on it, though the uniform is very form fitting on the man's muscular body. The guards all lower their weapons. "Mr. Oliver, Mr. Cranston." He says walking over and shaking their hands. "I'm Agent Phillip Mack, new director of Security here at D.E.T.A."

"You mind telling us why your agents pointed their guns at us?" Tommy asks. "I was seriously scared for my life there for a minute."

"Sorry about that," Mack says, "but you can never be too careful with our organization security. After all, it wasn't all that long ago a couple of teenagers infiltrated our facility without much difficulty."

"You heard about that, huh?" Billy asks, almost smiling.

"Just because I wasn't with the organization doesn't mean I don't know about the security snafus that went on before I gotseries of hallways to what appears to be blank, brick wall. The guard presses firmly on here." Mack says. "Believe me, things are done a little bit different now."

He turns and opens a pinpad on the side of the door. Tommy and Billy watch as he enters a long series of numbers, at least 15 by Billy's estimation. The pinpad then slides up and reveals a key slot. Agent Mack enters his badge into the slot and finally the door opens. He walks slowly through the opening. "Follow me." He says, not turning back to look at the two teenagers. Tommy turns and looks at Billy, who nods and follows the man.

The guard leads them down a one of the bricks about halfway down. "Welcome, Agent Mack." A computerized female voice says. "Two authorized visitors, Thomas Oliver and William Cranston." the guard says. "Voice recognition complete. Welcome Agent Mack and authorized guests." The wall then slides to the side revealing a hidden elevator. Agent Mack walks up to the elevator, where there is no up or down button. Instead, another pinpad, in which the large man enters a series of numbers and the elevator opens.

"Yeah, I'd say things are a little different." Billy says. "Don't you think this is a little bit of overkill?"

"Maybe, but like I said before, you can never be too careful when it comes to our security." The 3 of them step onto the elevator and begin to go down. Way down, very quickly."

"Where are we going?" Tommy asks.

"To meet with the director." Mack says. "And I'm sure he'd appreciate it if you didn't ask so many questions. He's doing you a favor by meeting with you."

The two rangers stand in an awkward silence as the elevator continues to plunge deeper and deeper underground. Finally, after a few minutes, the elevator screeches to a stop. Agent Mack and the two rangers exit the elevator into a large conference room. There is an oval shaped table in the middle. Sitting in the room is Commander Jones along with a man and a woman that Billy doesn't recognize. Commander Jones stands up upon seeing the two teenagers.

"Welcome." He says. "It's good to see you again. I just wish it was under better circumstances. Take a seat." He gestures towards the table. Billy and Tommy both grab a seat. "Thank you, Agent Mack. That will be all for now."

"Yes sir." Agent Mack says. "I'll be in my office if you need anything else." He turns and steps back into the elevator. The door closes and Jones turns back to the table.

"What was that all about?" Billy asks.

"Standard security operations under Agent Mack." Jones replies. "He's a good man, who's really good at his job. Our organization came under a lot of scrutiny recently, what with our last Commander being arrested for murder, our inadvertent aiding of a hostile alien threat, and having several members of our team killed by said alien threat. We didn't exactly have a line of people looking to come work for us. When you get somebody as good as Phil, you take him. Sure, he's a little over bearing at times, but I'd rather have security too tight than too loose."

"Does he know…" Tommy begins to ask, but looks at the other two people in room. He remembers Zordon's rule about not revealing their powers unless they have to.

"That you're rangers?" Jones finishes for him. "Yes. Mack is about one the few people with that knowledge. I know you don't want that information to be public knowledge, and I kept it as much of a secret as I could, but there are certain individuals within the organization that needed to know. Obviously Agents Eagan and McHale have that knowledge as well." He says gesturing the other agents in the room.

"I take it these are Agents Eagan and McHale, then." Billy says.

"Patrick McHale." The young man in the room says, eagerly. He rushes and shakes Billy's hand. "I'm a huge fan of you guys."

"Melissa Eagan." The girl says. She simply waves while Patrick rushes over to Tommy and begins shaking his hand firmly. Tommy shoots Billy a look who shrugs.

Commander Jones shakes his head. "Believe it or not, these two are some of the brightest young minds D.E.T.A. has to offer. Now, unfortunately most of the scientists who worked on the Green Ranger powers now longer are with the organization for one reason or another, but I've had these two look into the situation with the powers. They've been going over every file and record we had the on the project since you contacted me this morning."

"Did you find out anything about my powers?" Tommy asks anxiously.

"Nothing good." Agent Eagan says. "First of all, the original team that designed the powers did do a great job of maximizing the Power levels that the user could reach. Unfortunatley they didn't take into effect how much energy would be needed to sustain these powers for the long term."

"Think of the Green Ranger powers like a battery on a computer." McHale says. "When fully charged the computer runs great. But the more applications or programs you're running, the quicker the battery drains. And when the battery is lower, sometimes the computer behaves in way it usually doesn't. Sometimes things will freeze or the computer will crash, and it keeps behaving that way until you can either recharge it or it dies."

"So what you're saying is Tommy's powers need to be recharged like the battery on a laptop?" Billy asks. "That doesn't sound so bad."

"It wouldn't be if recharging the powers didn't use so many of our resources." Eagan responds. "First off, the cost of recharging the powers would be astronomical. It would cost virtually the same as if we started over and built new powers. Second of all, some of the resources used in building the powers, and that would be needed in order to recharge them, are no longer in D.E.T.A.'s possession. Whether they were used up or destroyed, the point is that we don't have access to them and they are really hard to obtain."

"Are you telling me that my powers can't be fixed?" Tommy asks. "My team needs my help. We've got a new threat to deal with and we need all 6 of us to beat him."

"I understand you're frustrated," McHale says "but there isn't an easy fix. We don't have any magical way to enhance your powers. The one solution that we've come up with is far from ideal, but could, theoretically, enhance your powers at least for the short term."

"What's that?" Billy asks, intrigued.

"We drain the power from the Dragonzord and feed it directly into the Green Ranger power coin. The Dragonzord's power is tied directly to the Green Ranger coin, but it uses a different energy source. Your power coin serves as a key for the zord; without it, the zord can't be used. Though it does make it so the Dragonzord is no longer useable, it can boost your powers, at least temporarily, until we come up with a more permanent solution."

"No way." Tommy says. "There has to be another way."

"They make a good point, Tommy." Billy says. "If we don't drain the power from the Dragonzord, you can't use either your powers or your zord. If we use their plan, you can at least still use your powers, just you'll have to leave the Giant battles to us in our zords."

"And what happens if the Megazord doesn't have enough power or the zords are damaged and need repairs. Then, when a giant battle comes, we're just out luck."

"Sounds to me like you'd be out of luck either way." Jones interrupts. "Tommy, we know this is far from an ideal scenario, but if these two say that it's the best solution at this time, then it's the best solution at this time."

"We can do the transfer of power today, if you'd like." Agent Eagan says.

"Billy said this morning I have about 5 more morphs until I'm completely out of Power. Until that point, I'm keeping the Dragonzord active."

"If you wait until your powers are completely drained, we may not be able to complete the transfer as we won't be able to use the Dragonzord." McHale interrupts. "You can't jump a car with another car that isn't running. We need your powers to still be active in order to have access to the power we're talking about draining."

"Plus while Billy's analysis was very well done, kudos by the Billy." Eagan says. Billy smiles. McHale mockingly repeats the phrase under his breath. Eagan ignores her colleague's muttering and continues. "It is far from an exact science. You could have 5 morphs or you could have 3. We know we have enough power to recharge your now. We can't guarantee that will be the case if we wait a few more battles."

"I just don't like idea of completely giving up on the Dragonzord. That thing has so much power and it's only been used a few times."

"Every time you do use it, though, it costs D.E.T.A. tons of money in repairs." Jones says. "Money that could be used elsewhere to aid you in your fight if we scrap the Dragonzord."

"Just out of curiosity, would we be able to recharge the Dragonzord should we find a more permanent solution to Tommy's power crisis?" Billy asks.

"Not likely." McHale says. "That battery is a one of a kind. If we drain it, it's unlikely it would ever be the same and it's not like we can run down to the store and pick up a new one. Maybe we could get the Dragonzord operation again, but it wouldn't be at the same power level as it is currently."

"So, hypothetically, let's say I go ahead and do this. How much energy are we talking about here? 2 morphs? 20? 100?" Tommy says.

"We can't say for certain. It depends on how much energy you use during each fight. But if we estimate that each morphing sequence would last, on average, 30 minutes, then I would say around 10 morphs."

"10 morphs? That's it? That all we get for completely scrapping the Dragonzord?"

"Tommy, I believe that the scientists are presenting us with a real way to have you continue to serve as a Ranger in the short term." Billy says. "Sure it's only 10 morphs, but it's 10 more that we had before. It at least buys us some time."

"Fine." Tommy says, finally caving into the pressure from the others. "I'm not thrilled about it, but Zordon did say we need all 6 of us to beat Lord Zedd. Let's get this over with." Tommy stands up and begins to head back towards the elevator. Billy sits there for a second, starring blankly ahead at the wall. Suddenly, Billy's eyes light up, and he turns to Tommy.

"Wait!" he shouts, as he rises to his feet. "Zordon did say that didn't he."

"Yeah, so?" Tommy asks, confused by his friends reaction.

"Hold off on draining the Dragonzord just yet." Billy shouts, excited. "That's an option we will have if I'm wrong, but I think we need to have another discussion with Zordon and Alpha before we make any decisions."

"What was so weird about it?" Tommy asks. "What just dawned on you?"

"The prophecy Zordon talked about mentioned six rangers." Billy says.

* * *

Goldar walks slowly into Lord Zedd's chamber in the moon base. "You asked to see me, my Lord?" Goldar says, visibly shaking.

"You took my putties to attack the rangers without my permission, and then retreated!?" Lord Zedd shouts. "You imbecile! I ought to have you thrown in the dungeon with that Witch you used to call your queen! Explain yourself!"

"Master, I saw the Green Ranger running by himself in the park. A quick examination showed that he didn't have his power coin with him. I thought we could test out the new putties and destroy one of the rangers in the process. I had no idea that the other rangers would show up so quickly. I pulled out to not reveal too much of the plan. I'm so sorry, Lord Zedd. Please forgive me!" The golden monkey is almost crying at this point.

"Fortunately for you, I'm in a giving mood today. While you may have inadvertently revealed my presence to the Rangers, they did not yet discover the only weak spot my minions have." Zedd says. "I know that the Green Ranger destroyed Scorpina and the two of you were close. Don't let your personal feelings of hatred toward the Green Ranger cloud your judgement. If you screw up again, I will not be so forgiving."

"Yes Master. Have we devised a new plan to take on the Rangers yet?" Goldar asks.

"It's all coming in to shape." Zedd says. "It's not completely finished, but I'm almost finished. You have to see every possible move your opponent can make, and have a counter for each one. That's when the plan is perfect. It's close, but there are still a few wild cards in the picture, but I will sort it out. Until then, leave my presence! I will summon you when I need you, and if I so much as hear that you thought about going to Earth without my permission, I will personally see to it that you will suffer the same fate as your former friend, Scorpina. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes my Lord." Goldar says and rushes out of the chamber.

* * *

Billy and Tommy teleport back into the Command Center. "Welcome back, Rangers." Zordon says. "How did your meeting with D.E.T.A. go?"

"They don't have a way to permanently boost Tommy's powers, but they had a suggestion on how to temporarily do it. Of course, it would put the Dragonzord out of commission, so it's far from perfect." Billy explains.

"If it can boost Tommy's powers, what choice do we have?" Alpha asks. "We need all 6 of you to defeat Lord Zedd."

"Funny you should mention that." Tommy says. Suddenly the other 4 rangers teleport in as well.

"What's going on?" Zack asks.

"What was so important you guys had to call us back?" Trini says. "Did Zedd launch an attack?"

"Not quite, I just wanted you all here for this." Billy says. "Zordon, you said earlier that if there was something that could us or that we needed to know to protect the Earth, you would tell us."

"That is correct, Billy." Zordon responds.

"You also mentioned an ancient prophecy that told of all 6 rangers being needed to protect the Earth from Zedd."

"Billy, where are you going with this?" Jason asks.

"Just wait." Tommy says. "I didn't catch it at first, either."

"Why didn't you tell us there's a 6th Power Coin out there?" Billy asks. The others, besides Tommy stare at him blankly.

"What are you talking about?" Kim says.

"We have 6 power coins." Zack continues. "Or did you all of a sudden forget how to count to six?"

"Tommy's power coin is manmade, and something that an ancient prophecy would have had no way of knowing about."

"It's an ancient prophecy designed to predict the future." Trini says. "Why is it hard to believe that it would know about this?"

Billy ignores the others and turns to Zordon. "Am I wrong about this?" He asks, then turning to Alpha asks again. "Am I?"

"Zordon, I think they deserve to know." Alpha says.

"You're right Alpha. Billy, you're not wrong." Zordon explains. "It's time I told you the truth. The truth about the White Ranger."

 **END CHAPTER 2**


End file.
